My beloved Submariner went off to get serviced the other day so I picked up a very cool Breitling Super Ocean Steelfish with a blue face (I will post pics later).

Initial Observations:
- Breitling had much more "bling" whereas the Rolex Sub is just plain classic
- I really like the the Pro 2 band on the Breitling and its clasp is superior to the Rolex 16610 (I hear Rolex has redone the clasp recently but I am not paying $8000 for a new 2011 Submariner!)
- The magnified date on the Rolex is very effective and after 11 years my eyes aren't used to having to work so hard to see the date on the Breitling, minor deal but still worth mentioning.
- Initially I didn't like the blue face but I got such a great deal I bought it. it has grown on me a lot and I like it now.
- I love the size of the Breitling but I can definitely see myself whacking it on door jams, etc...
- The Breitling is rated for crazy depths of 2000M / 6600' and has a helium escape valve like the Rolex Sea Dweller (now called the Deep Sea)
- I think bang per buck it would be damn hard to beat this Breitling since you can could buy one for about approx. 1/3 the price of a Rolex Submariner and 1/4 of a Deep Sea. For sheer value I'd also look at Omega but please, don't mention Tag with this group of watches- it isn't in the same league.

The Planet Ocean is a little hefty at 45mm and has a thicker case the "James Bond" professional. I have always liked the Breitlings too. For the money, I don't think I would ever buy a Rolex. Granted, they are still a very nice watch, but still grossly overpriced if you ask me.

Considering that Rolex sells every single watch they make they technically aren't overpriced. When the "new" Daytona came out in 2001 or 2002 I was on the waiting list at 5 or 6 stores and I never got a call from any of them. You still can't buy one unless you pay MORE than retail and good luck finding a stainless one! I have never even seen one in person before. Rolex is amazing in that they definitely don't care about selling a bunch of watches. They are going to sell the quantity they want at the price they want and screw supply and demand. Rolex could up production of the Daytona and sell twice as many of them but they don't- they sell what they can build while maintaining quality standards. They have a very, very interesting business model that is almost one of a kind.

I really like that Orange Omega Planet Ocean. It may be on my list! I have always thought the regular Seamaster was one of the best values bar none.

I've had my Seamaster 300 M now for about a month. I went with the Quartz movement over Auto just for practical reasons. IMO, you can't buy a better watch for $2,000. Classic look and very comfortable. It is classy enough to wear with a suit and casual enough to wear on the lake or at the beach. I just spent 9 days on Topsail Island and mine never left my wrist. Put it through all sorts of rough conditions with salt water and sand. Still looks just like the day I walked out of the store with it.

If I ever decide to drop the coin for an Auto. It'll be the Speedmaster Broad Arrow.

Aaron- Nice watch, I love the look of the Seamaster. Why the Quartz over the Auto? I am exact opposite. I wore the same Rolex Submariner everyday for 11 years with no issues. I think a good automatic is more practical. I have 5 or 6 decent quartz watches that all need batteries tucked away somewhere. I probably need to sell them.

Skull, a battery replacement every 3-4 years is my only maintenance. From others I have talked to Autos require more and pricey attention. Sounds like that is not the case with your Submariner.

Omega batteries are $185 a piece but I have a lifetime battery and warranty plan that was free because I decided to wear my Sox hat when going to get the watch. Timepiece manager was 80 and from Boston so he gave me the lifetime plan at no extra cost after we talked baseball and Boston for 15 minutes.

I have a Rolex and a Breitling I never were the Rolex and only seldom do I ever wear the Breitling. Nothing wrong with the Rolex, it just dosen't feel as nice on MY wrist as the Breitling. IMO the band on the Breitling has more style and feels more modern. The Rolex is more classic. Both of my watches are blue face and look close. I guess it just personal opinion. Lets see your Breitling!

Nice G.... love it. Here is mine.... I am digging it. It scratches easier than my Rolex because it has a couple places with mirrored instead of brushed finishes. It is a very nice watch. You are the only dude I have ever seen with two high-end watches that never wears a watch.. LOL. When I take mine off I feel weird. When I am biking or running I wear a cool green Garmin 405 sometimes too.

Nice watches fellas. Love the blue face Breitling. Any of you all have an IWC?

I am with Skull in that I rarely do not have a watch on. It always makes me laugh when someone says you don't need a watch when your smartphone has a clock. I prefer to tell time without having to pull a phone out of my pocket.

I wore my Omega while wakeskating and surfing the other day. The bracelet is so well made I feel comfortable wearing it anywhere at anytime.

man i would never wear my watch while wakesurfing or skating. its too easy for a wrist to get caught up in the handle or rope or im just paranoid about losing my $6500 watch in the bottom of the lake. then having to tell the wife haha(it was a wedding gift). good luck man i hope you never lose it.

Nice Rob. Have you looked at the Panerai PAM 90? I'm not a watch guy but I am an engineering guy and those things are impressive. Much more basic look, but well made and in the same ballpark price wise. I also know a guy in the business if you need someone to acquire something specific. We can go by his place sometime....frisco area.

My dad got me a vintage Patek from the 40's when I got into med school. Needless to say it ended up in a salt water hot tub and 6 months later died. We sent it to the factory and it's been completely refurbished. They actually rebuild them with original 1940's pieces. Go for the Breitling, Rolexes are for thugs and since there are so many fakes out there they lose their prestige...

I have owned a lot of watches. Whether or not you believe in brand name or not. A rolex needs no explanation. I always hated with tags and such that I was spending still quite a lot of money and held virtually none of the value.

My dad got me a vintage Patek from the 40's when I got into med school. Needless to say it ended up in a salt water hot tub and 6 months later died. We sent it to the factory and it's been completely refurbished. They actually rebuild them with original 1940's pieces. Go for the Breitling, Rolexes are for thugs and since there are so many fakes out there they lose their prestige...

There have always been many fakes out there because Rolex is the most desirable brand on the planet. rolex sells more watches in one year than patek has sold in its entire existance. Rolex will holds its value much better in the long haul too than a Breitling. I sold a Seadweller on craiglist earlier this year and had cash in hand in less than 18 hours. That probably will not happen with any other brand out there.

There have always been many fakes out there because Rolex is the most desirable brand on the planet. rolex sells more watches in one year than patek has sold in its entire existance. Rolex will holds its value much better in the long haul too than a Breitling. I sold a Seadweller on craiglist earlier this year and had cash in hand in less than 18 hours. That probably will not happen with any other brand out there.

We really going to debate which whether Rolex is a more desirable brand than Patek? The fact alone that you used sales numbers to demonstrate this shows how little you know.

Im not comparing the quality of a patek to a rolex. Im not a DB. I merely stated a fact about production levels of the two watches. Research it yourself if you dont believe me. As far as desirability its all in the eye of the beholder. 99 percent of the population is clueless about the brand Patek Philippe. You could show them a 130k 5970 and a crappy Rolex date just and i guarantee the average person would reach for the rolex everytime. So taking that into consideration would a rolex be more desirable I would say absolutely. That explains the massive amounts of counterfit rolex's sold year after year.

Im not comparing the quality of a patek to a rolex. Im not a DB. I merely stated a fact about production levels of the two watches. Research it yourself if you dont believe me. As far as desirability its all in the eye of the beholder. 99 percent of the population is clueless about the brand Patek Philippe. You could show them a 130k 5970 and a crappy Rolex date just and i guarantee the average person would reach for the rolex everytime. So taking that into consideration would a rolex be more desirable I would say absolutely. That explains the massive amounts of counterfit rolex's sold year after year.

So what you mean to say is: "Rolex is more desired but Patek is more desirable."

My dad just got that watch and he loves it, lucky bastard got it as a gift for making a friend some coin.

I can say from personal experience, that I like Brietling better, they had a few years where I wasn't a fan when they started introducing those Bentley versions. Truth be told, I hardly wear my Brietling (really only with suits) and spend everyday with my Nixon.

Has anyone considered replicas? I found a site that sells Panerai replicas that look damn fine. I love the look, but 5 figures just isn't something that I can spend on a watch and feel good about myself.

When you get into high end watches some of them are investments and some are just really nice!

Having a nice watch speaks volumes about a man, when you meet someone for the first time, they generally don't know what kind of car you have or how much money you have in the bank, but if you have a nice classy watch on your wrist most people notice that.

When I say nice classy watch, i do not mean a $300 block of metal from rockwell or nixon, those are just big piles of metal garbage to make the people who can't or wont afford a nice watch feel better.

The patek vs rolex debate can go on forever or I can just end it and say get an audemars piguet. That's when you know you have reached true baller status. For all you guys that have all the toys but still wear a nixon or a rockwell, maybe this year instead of buying the latest and greatest snowmobile or dirtbike or boatupgrade, go drop a few thoudand on a nice watch and then try and tell me that doesn't feel good.

Wow! It just got really stuffy in here. hahahaha! How about the perception of value in a watch and what it does for you as an individual?

A watch doesn't make me feel the way that a new car or motorcycle, or gun, or something nice for my family makes me feel. If I spent that money on a watch, I'd feel guilty and selfish. Which is why I stick to Nixons and Rockwells. A watch that cost 20 times as much does the same thing. The only difference is you're waving a bunch of money in the air for your status and ego, hoping that someone that appreciates nice watches, notices, and labels you as being successful. 99% of people will appreciate a Nixon 51-30 more than a Rolex unless they happen to see the Rolex label on the face.

And having a 20,000+ watch on your wrist doesn't mean that you're baller necessarily. We live in a world where people want you to think they are loaded. Half of the people driving Rovers, BMWs and other expensive cars are on six year loans living paycheck to paycheck in apartments.

I prefer to wear my Nixon over my Brietling. It feels good, its a decent watch, and I don't have to be concerned of losing it or getting beat up for it. Its almost to much work to wear expensive watches sometimes.

People that are saying a watch is a waste of money, quick question for ya. How much did you spend on your wife's engagement and wedding ring? How much depreciation have you seen in your boat? Your fancy pickup truck? Good watches hold their value and are no different than your wife wearing diamonds. Live and let live.

Wow! It just got really stuffy in here. hahahaha! How about the perception of value in a watch and what it does for you as an individual?

A watch doesn't make me feel the way that a new car or motorcycle, or gun, or something nice for my family makes me feel. If I spent that money on a watch, I'd feel guilty and selfish. Which is why I stick to Nixons and Rockwells. A watch that cost 20 times as much does the same thing. The only difference is you're waving a bunch of money in the air for your status and ego, hoping that someone that appreciates nice watches, notices, and labels you as being successful. 99% of people will appreciate a Nixon 51-30 more than a Rolex unless they happen to see the Rolex label on the face.

And having a 20,000+ watch on your wrist doesn't mean that you're baller necessarily. We live in a world where people want you to think they are loaded. Half of the people driving Rovers, BMWs and other expensive cars are on six year loans living paycheck to paycheck in apartments.

There's no reason for a whole bunch of practical and solid logic I was waiting for someone to post their 100K watch in here and tell me all about its superior quality, design and performance.

When I say nice classy watch, i do not mean a $300 block of metal from rockwell or nixon, those are just big piles of metal garbage to make the people who can't or wont afford a nice watch feel better.

Riley Your the man Im sure you just offended more then 3/4 the people on W/W with that said I still think your statement is 100% right on. LOL

I know a guy that is all about attention! Everything he does is all about getting people to look at him. He has all the fancy time pieces. Rolex, Breitling, Panerai, I ran into him and he was wearing this funky big o "Jacob The jeweler" looking watch. I looked at it and said WTF is that as I grab'd his wrist and looked at his watch. He's reply is classic. He said it's some cheep ass POS watch that everyone seems to notice and like. He said "I have a 30k Rolex on my wrist no one gives a F or mentions it, but when I wear this watch we always end up talking about it" So this is my new favorite watch. I guess the Young girl's he is trying to attract are more important then Impressing Older men with the ability to spot a nice time piece.

We all have the stuff we like to spend money on and we will all fight to justify it. In my mind a good timepiece is money well spent. And by good timepiece i don't mean some ghetto Jacob the Jeweler POS

To each his own. But here's what I don't get: Why hang $30,000 on your wrist?!! Seriously? As opposed - I get the opportunity to invest in 2-3 commercial RE deals a year, investing similar amounts that often yield & pay out 8.0% right off the bat. $30,000 x 8.0% is $2,400 annually, every year going forward. That would pay almost double my yearly boat gas bill.

This thread came back from the dead I guess. As an update.. I bought the Breitling and got my Sub back from being serviced (years ago)... it looked brand new! My Sub had one bad scratch on the bezel so I had it replaced. The service and bezel was nearly $500.
I continued to wear the Breitling after I got the Sub back. The Steelfish is a much larger watch. It makes the Sub feel almost small on my wrist. The Rolex is much more accurate. My Steelfish always wants to run fast. it gains about 5-6 minutes every month. I have tried setting it on its crown, face down, face up and nothing works. The crown on the Breitling has a very nasty habit of coming loose. A year ago it completely came loose. I washed my hands and then noticed it. Within 1 hr I had moisture inside the watch. I returned the watch to the dealer and it got sent back to Switzerland. It came back a couple months later good as new... at no charge. I went back to wearing the Breitling again. I bought the Sub new in 2000. Rolex has a larger Sub now I may look at getting. My friend wears one and it is pretty sweet. I am not really that much into watches anymore. I buy a high-end watch every 10 years or so. If I would have bought 20 Rolex's in 2008 I would have done far better than staying in some of my investments. You will never really lose your shirt buying high-end watches and guns!

I'm a big fan of Breitling myself. I have 2 at the moment. A SuperOcean and a black steel Avenger Seawolf Code Yellow. The code yellow is actually for sale. I also have a thing for Victorinox Alpnach's. I have two and for the most part, they are my daily go to. Here are some pics.

Shawn, I could care less what their annual pass costs, because I'm not buying one. It's not worth the money, for me it's a bad investment. The rails suck and thus it get's kinda boring out there, I know a bunch of people who aren't choosing to renew their membership at wake island because it's not worth the money. I can piss away 1300.00 and I'll be just fine, I choose not to because I try to look at all things from a financial point of view. I want to be retired in my 40's and I won't accomplish that by not weighing the pro's and con's of the money i spend.

Quick question: are the guys here who are buying these 5k + watches own there own home and are mortgage free? Not judging just asking. Trying to get my head around financial priorities.

My financial priorities are in line and they include much more than not having a mortgage payment. There are so many other things to think about like saving for a rainy day, retirement and kids college funds.

The thing is, as with anything else, if you do it right, they really don't cost all that much at all. The one pictured top right in my post, I am about to sell, and make a 20% profit on for owning it all of 2 months. If you buy right, you will never get hurt owning one. You just have to keep your eye on the ball.

Quick question: are the guys here who are buying these 5k + watches own there own home and are mortgage free? Not judging just asking. Trying to get my head around financial priorities.

Why on earth would I want to payoff my house when it is financed at 2.5%?

I am still wearing the Breitling as my daily watch. However, I have got to say, it is no where near as accurate as my Rolex. It tends to run slow. It loses about 5 minutes every months. Patek vs Rolex is apples to oranges. There are few things more different. A Patek Calatrava is a classic if you are wearing a suit and tie daily and want to fit in with rich hedge fund managers and Wall Street types. I have seen a couple and they don't float my boat. The Calatrava is cool (I guess) but I couldn't ever see myself wearing one. I'd go 5130 in Patek. I was in a meeting the other day with a guy wearing a Panerai. Cool looking watch.

PLR I love that code yellow.. do you wear it much ? I have really wanted to get a black pvd but don't know if it would stand up to daily use and getting scratched up. I want something to wear every day - that's the only problem with having a nice piece is not wanting to mess it up!

To those talking about the cost - a nice watch is an investment. There's not many items you can buy (as long as you buy right) that you can use for 5 years and at least get 100% of your investment back, if not make money. I couldn't even count how many pieces I have bought and sold (probably 50+) and never lost a dime.

Stuey,
I wear it pretty often, and it is easily the most comfortable watch I currently own. The key is to buy one at a price where you feel comfortable wearing it without too much worry. That being said, almost every "blacksteel" I've seen has some sort of mark on it, and mine is no different. Its just going to happen. I've never been a fan of having a "safe queen." I buy them to wear them, not look at them. I'm actually wearing that one right now. Its for sale if your interested. I thought it was sold a couple weeks ago, but the deal feel through. Its a great watch and I have all the papers / boxes. I picked it up for a steal and I'll sell it at one too. I am trying to sell a bit of my collection to get something else. I possibly already have the two Alpnach's sold too.

PM or post a price.. I'll always consider it! Do you have the diver pro II/deployment on there? I'm been waiting to find a good deal on the Super Avenger blacksteel but haven't come across many.

I do wear watches but on occasion - its partly due to getting it scratched up and partly due to being 'over-blinged' when I'm wearing a tshirt and getting groceries.
I just got a deal on Super Ocean M2000 with the black/red face and the black/red super ocean leather strap. I think I'm going to use this as my every day, just going to switch to a diver pro II or III when I can find a good deal on one. The deployment clasp for those is so pricy from an AD.